East London sees the launch of the Legends Marathon Wellness Expo, to be held over three days, between 30 September and 02 October 2015, at the Osner Hotel, East London Beachfront, and sets the stage for the Legends Marathon 2015. The venture is in partnership with Kat Leisure, who is the marathon’s Expo and accommodation partner. The event will attract athletes, families and friends to the precinct whose capacity is just under 4000.

In the third installment of the Legends Marathon events, it is expected that some 10000 athletes, both professional and local, international and South African, will line up at the start of the events. Legends Marathon comprises a series of events; namely a 68 km ultra-marathon, a 21.1km half-marathon, and a 5 km fun run.

The events will take place on 03 October 2015, and entries are open at www.legendsmarathon.co.za for online booking. The implementation of the Wellness Expo seeks to cement the ideal of health, healthy living and a sense of community; characteristics that Legends Marathon has made its own.

The Legends Marathon, now in its third year, provides the missing link in the repositioning of the Eastern Cape as the Home of Legends; a link that puts the province on the calendar of international athletic meetings, provides television coverage on free-to-air television, creates jobs, and injects the necessary economic and tourism boost to the province. The Legends Marathon celebrates the legendary spirit of the Eastern Cape, its icons of the struggle, individuals, physical and spiritual beacons which marked the route to freedom, identified by the people themselves.

The two big marathons in South Africa i.e. Comrades Marathon and Two Oceans respectively, attract a combined number of over 40 000 participants. The Two Oceans Half Marathon accounts for over 25 000 of this figure. International athletes come from 59 countries from around the globe; this shows just how popular South Africa is as a sports Tourism destination.

The Eastern Cape will benefit from this goodwill and the Legends Marathon is a sure game changer in this regard. The Legends Marathon is now an approved qualifying event for both races. This means some of the participants in the two events will use the Legends Marathon as a qualifying race. This helps boost the number of visitors to the Eastern Cape. The Wellness Expo is designed primarily to embrace these numbers. The inaugural event will attract about 4000 people in the 1st year.

The staging of the Legends Marathon in the Eastern Cape achieves the following :

• Positions the Eastern Cape as an event as one of the top event destinations in SA

• Job creation, and human resources are up-skilled.

• Direct and indirect spend is a catalyst for further economic development.

Development Opportunities for PDI’s Services to be implemented and their relevance to the staging of the marathon, include food stalls, ablution, photographic, catering, printing, marquees, transport, security.

Food Stalls: A number of food vendors will be selected to sell food to the public. All these vendors will be assisted to comply with the BCMM Health and Fire regulations.

Ablution Facilities: The event requires use of these facilities and will be sourced from local PDI’s, Janitors will be on duty throughout the event to service these. All these will be sourced locally.

Photographic: A professional photographer will be appointed to capture the activities on the day, both still and motion photogra­phy

Catering Services: These services are provided from about a week before the event as experts, media crews arrived in the province to prepare logistics for the event. During the expo and the race a number of catering companies are hired for different groups of stake holders i.e. media, administrators, athletes, VIP’s etc.

Printing: Printing services for our marketing materials, signage, administrative support documents, Accreditation Cards etc. will be sourced, all using local small businesses.

Marquees: Marquees erected for the expo, SABC, Media, Athletes Tent and emergency Services are sourced locally. All marquees are issued with the required Engineer’s Safety Certificates.

Transport: Taxis and buses will be hired to transport athletes from the expo to local hotels and Jan Smuts Stadium. Security Guards: A local security company will be appointed to secure all the equipment and belongings of the exhibitors whilst ensuring the safety of the visitors to the expo. They will also assist with parking, security functions and will also act as marshals. etc. For exhibitors and visitors convenience an ATM is situated at Spar shopping complex diagonally across from

from the expo.

Ambulance services will be on site throughout the Expo.

An exhibitor lounge is available at the Hotel Osner throughout the show. Exhibitors will be able to catch up on emails, have a light snack or enjoying the beautiful view.

For more on how you can be a part of this iconic initiative, please contact The Marathon’s offices via telephone 043 735 1032 or email: info@legendsmarathon.co.za

Eskom, are you throwing what is left of South Africa out to pasture? Our past week in Pietermaritzburg North looks like this:

Monday, Loadshedding 12-2 pm

Tuesday, Loadshedding 2-4 pm

Wednesday, Loadshedding 4-6 pm

Thursday, Loadshedding 6-8 am

Friday, Loadshedding 8-10 am

Satursday, Loadshedding 10 am-12pm

Sunday, Loadshedding 6-8 pm

(Plus 5 – 10 or so minutes extra each time)

An average month means that you are stealing 60 hours pm from the already burdened consumer; the very consumer you are now threatening to implement harsh steps against in a bid to recover your vast unpaid (and increasing) debt, which is just short of 2 Billion – in Pietermaritzburg alone.

Just as an aside, how much did the rusty iron figurines that now deface the once glamorous PietermaritzburgCity Hall surrounds cost the MsunduziMunicipality? Did the consumers actually have a say in that? Do the consumers even know what those rusty bits of metal symbolise – or what they are meant to symbolise? Were they meant to rust after less than a year and a half? I digress.

This equates back to almost a week of services that we do not have – but which we are forced to pay for.

I say ‘steal” because the consumer is being held to ransom – they have no other choice but to be kept in the dark.

Therefore, since Eskom is saving however much coal dust it is saving, after having sold off South Africa’s vast supply of quality coal and resources to the rest of Africa for cheaper rates than it supplies its citizens, they should, it stands to reason, be crediting every single consumer account with at least 25% on their monthly services’ bill. After all there is no service for a minimum of 60 hours per month – no work no pay! Isn’t that SA Government’s rules? Or is it selective?

What happened to “Eskom : ‘Consumers can relax, there will be no loadshedding on a Sunday.’”? Did you forget?

And why is it that I have a loadshedding schedule setting out loadshedding x 2 most days (not on Sunday, of course) issued by Eskom and published in the local media, but it has never once been adhered to?

Here is life:

Start work midday if you are lucky – it takes guesswork, because you are never quite sure when your power will go out. Clean house first, educate your children, try and work for ten minutes in the hope that something will be accomplished?

Make sure that your computer and other electronic devices are shut down properly and rebooted every 15 minutes so as not to lose valuable data in the event of unscheduled ‘scheduled’ loadshedding – Lord above forbid that you actually lose an entire hard drive, or other valuable. electronic equipment, due to power surges because your insurance company will probably not cover it, Eskom sure won’t cover it, Msunduzi Municipality will not cover it – oh dear, looks like you will have to save up for a new computer – hard to do, because you cannot actually run your business, do your job, clean your house, educate your children, earn a measly living – because you are being deprived of your basic human right, as enshrined in our wonderful Constitution, to government provided services, which includes electricity and power. This is, of course, notwithstanding the fact that you are being charged for it – and in our case, for the past year OVERCHARGED by up to 60% of our monthly account.

Run up electricity costs and pre-cook lots of food. You are already being charged by a minimum of 25% more than you utilise, so utilise more while you have the chance. You will be charged “interest on arrears” which don’t really exist, but you will never be paid credit interest. This all pales into insignificance when compared to the necessity of loadshedding for the man in the street. Car, housing allowances, and the like, together with 6 figure salaries – oh, and loadshedding – are actually more important than the regular people (who are referred to as consumers, not ‘part-time consumers’, or ‘overcharged consumers’, but ‘consumers’) who work so hard to provide it for those who hold these government service providing positions.

Keep masses of said pre-cooked food in the refrigerator. It will not freeze or even be kept cold because loadshedding has a habit of defrosting the fridge and freezer.

Be prepared for nasty smells emanating from the kitchen area as food, which you worked your botty off to buy has now gone off. It does not matter that you don’t have extra cash to replace it because loadshedding is more important than feeding your family.

When your city is hit by a devastating hailstorm that blows the roof off, crashes through tiles and sheeting, and rips the gutters and fascias from your house, understand that loadshedding takes priority. Your home can wait to be cleaned up – it requires electricity to chop down half-fallen trees, suck up thousands of litres of water from the inside of your home, water soaked carpets, and generally try and clean and disinfect the area of quickly rotting debris in 36-39 Degree C heat!

Thank you, Eskom. Thank you, Government of South Africa. You have done and are doing a fine job in ensuring that South Africa remains one of the least popular, unsafe, uneducated, corrupt, and embattled countries in the world.

I am sure my many family members from abroad can’t wait to visit. I am sure my beautiful children whom I have not seen for years, but who wisely left this country really want to return some day – perhaps to see what it really is like living in deepest darkest Africa.

Like this:

Less than 900 entries available for 2015 Old Mutual Two Oceans Ultra Marathon

MEDIA RELEASE

(**Cape Town, 30 January 2015) Entries for the 2015 Old Mutual Two Oceans Ultra Marathon are running out, with less than 900 spots at the start line still available.

The 46th Ultra Marathon will take place on Easter Saturday, 4 April 2015. And for the second year in a row, entries are expected to sell out well ahead of the official 4 March 2015 closing date.

To qualify for participation in the Ultra Marathon, runners must have completed at least one full marathon (42.2km) after 1 July 2014 in under five hours. However, runners do not have to pre-qualify to enter and have until 4 March 2015 to submit their qualifying times.

South African Ultra Marathon entrants are also required to belong to a registered running club and have a valid running license. No temporary licenses will be issued to Ultra Marathon runners.

Old Mutual’s R1 million bonus

In addition to the prize money that can be won by the Ultra Marathon winners, title sponsor Old Mutual has once again confirmed its R1 million bonus to the winning male and female runner who respectively breaks the record for the 56km Ultra Marathon in 2015.

The men’s record of 3:03:44 was set in 1988 by road running legend Thompson Magawana, while Frith van der Merwe set the women’s record a year later in 1989 when she ran 3:30:36.

The closest any runner has come since then is Zimbabwean Marko Mambo, who ran 3:05:39 in 2005, and who has won the race three times. Russian Olesya Nurgalieva ran the second fastest women’s time in 2008 when she crossed the finish line in 3:34:53.

This will be the 16th year that Old Mutual sponsors this prestigious road race.

Top Names for PetroSA Marathon, Mossel Bay 2014, David Barmasai Tumo of Kenya (21.1km) has the fastest time on start line of Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, while SA’s Jenna Challenor to make marathon debut at PetroSA Marathon, Mossel Bay 2014

A star-studded field will line up at the various starts in the PetroSA Marathon, held in Mossel Bay, on 27 September 2014. In their quest to achieve IAAF Bronze Label status, the Race Organizing Committee and Title Sponsors, PetroSA, have left no stone unturned to ensure that the participants of each event on all levels are accommodated according to world class standards.

A brief look at the top class field reveals almost household names, not only in Africa, but in the world, as professional long-distance athletes with impeccable credentials and pedigree align themselves to run in the 42.2km, 21.1km and 10 km races in the beautiful seaside town of Mossel Bay, South Africa.

Men

David Barmasai Tumo – Kenya (Development Run & PetroSA 21.1km)

A world class athlete who has won and performed on the biggest stage in World Running. 2011 Dubai Marathon Champion (2.06.18), has represented Kenya at the 2011 World Marathon Championships in Deagu and was 5th as well as has a top 10 finish in Boston Marathon.

David Barmasai Tumo

Ghirmay Tikabo – Eritrea (IAAF Bronze Label Invited Athlete – 42.2km)

Ghirmay made Marathon debut at Petro SA 2013 and achieved 3rd position. Ghirmay has a PB 10km of 28:36. He has all the attributes to run a sub 2H10 on a flat course and given his recent training and improvements he could run Sub 2H14 in September this year.

Munya is a young athlete that has exceptional talent and has run distances from 10km to Ultra Marathon. He has a Personal best time of 63 minutes for a half marathon and has competed at Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2012 and Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpar marathon 2013. Is the current record holder for the 21.1km and 42.2km Maritzburg Marathon in KZN. Was 2nd in the inaugural Mandela Day Marathon 2012.

Munyaradzi Jari

Sufa Chala – Ethiopian (IAAF Bronze Label Invited Athlete – 42.2km)

Sufa Chala is a quality athlete and is improving with each outing. He has a PB half marathon time of 61:52 which was achieved at the same race where he ran a PB marathon time of 2H12:44 in Dubai Marathon 2014

A solid athlete with a PB half marathon of 60:41 in Italy and a best 10km of 28:31 in Dar es Selam in 2014. He has a 10 000m track time of 27:39.

Prodigal Khumalo – Zimbabwe

Prodigal has run and won at every distance from 3000m track to Marathon distance. He has a 2nd place at Nongoma Ultra 56km and was 9th at Comrades Marathon 2014. In 2014 he competed at Mumbai Marathon India at short notice and this was his first race off the Continent. PK as he is know is capable of running under 2H14 and has a PB marathon of 2H15.

Prodigal Khumalo Township to Township winner 2013

Wilson Kibet – Kenya (Development Run & PetroSA 42.2km

Wilson is a young upcoming star who has was 2nd on Marathon debut at the incredibly tough Ethkweni Marathon Durban KZN 2012. Wilson placed 11th at Petro SA in 2013 so knows the course. February 2014 he placed 2nd at the Wan Jin Shi Marathon in Japan, and has placed in the top 5 at races in India during 2013.

Jenna represented South Africa at the world Half Marathon Championships and ran a PB of 74 minutes. She participated in the Ladies Total Sports race in Stellenbosch recently and ran a solid 34 minutes. She is a fast improving athlete, making her marathon debut in 2014 at PetroSA Marathon.

Jenna Challenor making marathon debit at PetroSA Marathon 2014

Additional Elite Runners available (via Cape Town Marathon):

(8 Confirmed to come on 23 Sep, will participate with Development Runners & visit Mossel Bay High Schools on 25 Sep)

Benard Koech Chebasa of Kenya attained an overall position of 5th at Gauteng marathon 2014, against the world-renowned likes of Steven Mokoka and Elroy Gelant. He was also 1st junior home. At 19 years of age, this young man is one to watch!

So Oscar gets off on pre-meditated murder, to be expected – but to get off on murder? Culpable Homicide is an act of negligence. Can anyone really say that Oscar Pistorius was negligent, when he, in a rage, picked up that firearm and fired 4 shots through a bathroom door at someone he could not see? And what of the extremely publicised volatile and abusive nature, which the judge did mention as possibly being contributory to his aggressive nature, and to my mind, the “chip on his shoulder”?

I have worked on thousands of cases, one where, in the face of medical evidence TO THE CONTRARY, a man was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping his own child. Medical evidence confirmed this to be impossible.

Another case which comes to mind is a man who was found guilty and imprisoned for possession of a firearm – which he never had in his possession but which was handed in at the police station by a rival of his, with the information that he had retrieved such firearm from the accused. He was found guilty of possession of an unlicensed firearm and sentenced to the maximum term of imprisonment. He never had the firearm in the first place.

One of my most disturbing cases was one in which a very valuable member of society, a South African martial arts champion, community worker, actively involved in the development of sport with underprivileged children, was found guilty of armed robbery – despite the alleged “firearms” never having been produced in court, neither handed in as exhibits in the SAP13, which is a requirement by law. No one ever saw these firearms, no one could testify about them – the police officers who did testify were so confused themselves they forgot their concocted story. The best for me in this one was that the person responsible for conducting the (illegal) search for the so-called illegal firearms was himself a civilian – with no warrant, authorisation or anything authorising him to conduct the search. This accused’s crime? He happened to be driving from one town to another, after an armed robbery in town 2.

Whether or not Matsipa delivers a (very lenient) competent verdict of culpable homicide or not, her entire judgment has made a mockery of the Criminal Justice System; it has opened the doors to an already abused and corrupt system, which will now allow abusers, particularly in domestic violence situations to grasp on to the precedent she has now and is setting. If this is to be her judgment, Pistorius will probably get away with a suspended sentence and/or a fine. Will he be given jail time? Probably not – and if he is sentenced to a term imprisonment, there seems to be a heavy weight in favour of him being granted bail pending appeal.

The Constitution of South Africa and the laws governing the protection of women’s and children’s rights, although enshrined in those Acts, do little to serve the very basic needs and requirements of the people they were promulgated to protect. This judgment has just opened the floodgates for more abused women and children to be the victims – not only of the abusers, but of the very justice system that the people put into power to protect the backbone of this nation.

South Africa has to do what South Africa has promised to do – and that is to protect its citizens.